


Rise of the Birds

by Triscribe



Series: Beyond Batman's Shadow [2]
Category: Batman Beyond
Genre: Mild Language, Minor Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-21
Updated: 2017-06-21
Packaged: 2018-11-17 00:48:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11264526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Triscribe/pseuds/Triscribe
Summary: Four days ago things had been perfectly normal. Three days ago, their mother was killed by a drunk driver. Two days ago, Terry nearly lost his little brother to an uncaring, manipulative social worker, only to gain hope from his crotchety old boss. And today, both the McGinnis boys were moving into 1007 Mountain Drive, also known as Wayne Manor.





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

“Terry?” He remained silent, and eventually Max just gave him a pat on the shoulder before walking away. She was replaced, though, by lighter footsteps, followed by gentle fingers being placed over his own clenched fists.

“Ter? C’mon, babe, you’re scaring me.” He ignored Dana as well, and after a few more pleading words, she sighed and left too. Then came the sound of weary steps that he’d been dreading, the ones accompanied by an antique cane.

“McGinnis.” Bruce’s voice seemed to be just as gruff as usual, but internally Terry cringed at the hint of sympathy behind it. “It wasn’t you fault.”

“Should have been there.” His eyes squeezed shut, involuntarily summoning the image of the smashed up car, Matt crouched by the curb and sobbing, a pool of blood mingling with his mother’s ginger hair...

“You were busy elsewhere.” Stopping the Terrible T’s from smashing up cars and sports fans down by the stadium, sure, but what kind of an excuse was that? They weren’t doing anything lethal. Unlike certain college punks who’d had a lot too much to drink, speeding down pedestrian walkways towards defenseless women and kids...

The Old Man tried to get him to snap out of it for a bit longer, but eventually he decided to leave the eighteen year old to his silent state, moving further down the hall to take his own seat. Terry wasn’t sure how much more time passed before his next visitor arrived, but this one he didn’t have the chance to ignore or brush off. Matt never said a word: just hopped up onto the bench his big brother had claimed and burrowed into the teen’s side. Automatically, Terry wrapped an arm around the boy, holding him close. It was a position they hadn’t gotten into for years, since the early days of their parents’ divorce, but at the moment neither cared.

All they had left was each other.

-BB-

“What do you mean, I can’t take care of him?” Terry glowered down at the social worker, a tiny, diminutive woman of middle age, who merely readjusted her spectacles.

“Exactly that, Mister McGinnis. You are not only far too young for the task, but past offences lead me to believe that being placed in your care would not be healthy for your brother.”

The eighteen year old blinked. “Wait - you’re saying that I can’t have custody of Matt because I spent a few months in Juvie three years ago?!”

“In addition to other factors, but that was a large contributor to the decision.”

“But there isn’t anywhere else for him to go!”

“On the contrary, I’ve already found a prospective foster family who’d be willing to see about taking him in.”

“Not gonna happen.” Terry was hard pressed to keep his voice down and not shout at the lady. “Not when he’s got me.”

“And what makes you think you’re a reasonable choice, Mister McGinnis.” The social worker arched an eyebrow at him. “I’m perfectly aware of your employment, but is the salary enough to continue paying the bills for your mother’s apartment, or even a smaller place of your own? And with the constant possibility hanging over your head of being called in to work, how would you be able to guarantee being able to provide for your brother throughout the day?”

The teen was about to snap back that he could rearrange his work schedule if needed, but held it in. This woman had no idea about his true job as Batman, something which he really couldn’t take time off from, even for Matt. But he couldn’t just let his baby brother be carted off to live with some family who couldn’t possibly care about him the way Terry himself did!

Smirking over her supposed victory, the social worker brought out the clipboard she’d first approached Terry with. “I’ll need you to sign these forms-”

“Just one moment, Mrs. Wheedler.” A stern voice barked out, one which Terry had never been so happy to hear. Bruce stomped down towards them from the waiting area, a welcome reinforcement. “If Matthew is to be sent away thanks to legalities, why should his brother need to sign anything?”

The woman pursed her lips in irritation. “They are release of custody forms, citing that Mister McGinnis agrees he is not able to care for his younger brother-”

“But, wait, if I don’t sign them, then does that mean Matt is legally mine?” Terry’s eyes widened as he received a stiff nod. “You were just trying to snowball me!”

“Regardless, my points from before still stand.” Mrs. Wheedler said icily. “You would not be a fit guardian for Matthew. And if you don’t accept this by the end of the weekend, then I will take action within Social Services to have him removed from your care.” With that, she turned on her heel and strode away from them.

“Frak it all,” Terry swore, rubbing at his eyes. “How the hell am I supposed to placate someone like that?”

“Language. And you won’t have to.” The teen snapped his head around to stare at Bruce, who for the first time in two years actually looked nervous about something.

“What do you mean?”

“Terry...” Uh-oh, using the first name couldn’t be a good sign. “How would you feel if I put in a request to become Matthew’s legal guardian?”

Floored, he couldn’t even come up with a response. Or get his jaw to stop hanging open in shock.

“I only ask because it would mean you two were still able to have a relationship, and really, you’d be the one taking care of him. But, the both of you could move into the Manor, which would cut down on commute when there’s an emergency, as well as allow you more personal time than wearing the suit has allowed these past years.” Seriously, Terry couldn’t believe what he was hearing. The Old Man had not only provided back-up against the angry social worker, but was now giving the McGinnis brothers a chance to stay a family.

“I- that- You’d really do that for us?” Was all he could force out. Bruce’s uncertain expression got a little softer as he nodded. Then it returned to full-out irritation as Terry grabbed him in a tight hug.

“Alright, McGinnis, get off of me before you make a scene.”


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

“Whoa,” Matt breathed as he stepped out of the car, staring up at Wayne Manor. “You get to work here? No wonder you never come home!”

“It’s not all fun and games, twip.” Terry grumbled as he moved around to grab their suitcases from the trunk. Four days ago things had been perfectly normal. Three days ago, their mother was killed by a drunk driver, followed by Matt being taken to the hospital for shock and a scraped up leg. Two days ago, Terry had nearly lost his little brother to an uncaring, manipulative social worker, only to gain hope from his crotchety old boss. And today, after some paperwork pushed extra fast through the Social Services network courtesy of Bruce’s input and Max’s hacking skills, both the McGinnis boys were moving into 1007 Mountain Drive, also known as Wayne Manor.

Terry still couldn’t believe how fast everything had changed. Or that he’d now be living with the Old Man. Dana, at least, had been slightly sympathetic, but Maxine just broke down laughing when she first heard that piece of news. One thing from that conversation, though, kept coming back to bug him.

“You know you’re gonna have to tell Matt that you’re Batman.” Max had told him bluntly. “Because if he finds out on his own, you’ll never hear the end of it. It’s been almost four months since the Night of Clowns and Dana still hasn’t let go of that yet.”

“I know,” he’d sighed. “I tried telling him and- and Mom, a few times, but either I lost my nerve or they didn’t believe me.”

“No time like the present, Ter.” And boy, wasn’t that going to be a fun conversation. If the Old Man let him have it, that was.

“How big is this place? Is it haunted? Does it have any secret passages or rooms?” Matt’s last question jerked Terry back to his current task which was to get Matt settled and feeling reasonably comfortable in his new surroundings. 

But, maybe not so comfortable that he’d go looking for any hidden doors and possibly find his way into the Cave.

Bruce was still downtown, visiting with Commissioner Gordon (who’d helped with the foster process a bit, and would also be giving the Old Man a ride back), so it was just Ace that Terry had to introduce to his little brother. And if his initial meeting with the massive dog had told the teen anything, it was that he needed to be ready to snatch Matt up above biting range if Ace felt too threatened by the newcomer.

Carrying the pair of massive suitcases up to the front door, Terry had his brother hang back for a moment so that he could determine where the canine was. He’d only gotten a couple of steps in, though, when a four-legged black blur bounded past him and out the entrance.

“Ace! Don’t-” Dropping the cases, the teen darted back outside, just to freeze at the sight before him. Ace had knocked Matt to the ground, but rather than act like the vicious, jealous guard dog that he was, the mutt was actually licking the kid. And Matt was giggling at his impromptu bath like he was merely playing with an over-sized puppy.

“Seriously?” Terry deadpanned. “Oh, sure, warm up to the twip in a millisecond, when it took you three months to stop growling at me.”

As if in answer, Ace paused in delivering his sloppy dog kisses to look back at the teen and shoot him a dour sounding whoof.

“Dumb dog.”

-BB-

Matt couldn’t sleep.

His first day at Wayne Manor had been pretty cool, with a tour from his big brother that ended up turning into a explorer’s quest for the both of them. Even when Mr. Wayne got home, he’d made sure the boys knew the basic rules of behavior (no setting the kitchen on fire, no dangling from chandeliers, that sort of thing), and then left them alone to have some more fun. Eventually, Terry had fixed them up some soup with a store-bought loaf of french bread for dinner, gotten Matt settled in his new room, and then said goodnight.  
Almost four hours later, the eleven year old still hadn’t dropped off to sleep. The bedroom was way bigger than he was used to, and even if the temperature wasn’t above or below normal, everywhere in the huge house had a cold quality to it.

He wanted his parents.

He wanted Terry.

Quietly, Matt slipped out of the queen size bed, padding silently on bare feet to the door. Out in the hall, the shadows seemed even deeper, though he couldn’t say whether that was menacing or comforting. Moving a bit faster, the kid went to the bedroom his older brother had pointed out as the one he’d use whenever it was too late to drive home. Matt didn’t bother with knocking, just turned the knob and pushed his way inside.

No one was there.

The boy paused uncertainly, wondering if Mr. Wayne had his brother running errands at two in the morning. Normally, Matt would discount that as silly, but Terry had long complained of how crazy the old man was... A sudden whine from down the hallway startled the kid from his thoughts. He turned to see Ace sitting a few feet away from him, and grinned when the black dog’s slender tail began to wag.

“Hey, boy,” Matt whispered, coming over to pet the animal. “Don’t suppose you know where my big bro is?”

As if he knew exactly what the question was, Ace stood and started to trot down the hall, looking back to check if the kid was following him. Matt did so, winding up in the main living room where the portrait of Mr. Wayne’s parents hung above the fireplace. Sure enough, Ace led him straight to the long sofa, where Terry was sprawled out and snoring in a set of loose black workout clothes. Snickering at his brother’s position, Matt moved to pull one of the sheets off of a couple chairs at the back of the room, bringing it over to the conked out teen.

When Bruce emerged from the passage to the Batcave sometime later, he wasn’t surprised in the slightest to see that, once again, Terry hadn’t made it all the way to his room before passing out. What did give the man pause, though, was the sight of Matthew tucked in between his brother’s torso and the back of the sofa, a dusty sheet pulled over them and Ace curled up by their feet.

Shaking his head, the former crimefighter returned the grandfather clock to its position over the passageway entrance, then went to get a proper blanket for the boys.

-BB-

The third night in a row that Matt didn’t find Terry in his room, he knew something was up. That was also the time that he sat curled up in the shadows on the far side of the room, determined to catch his brother before he had a chance to crash on the sofa (since apparently Terry never made it all the way to his actual room to sleep).

The kid was quite shocked, though, when his big brother finally did appear around three in the morning - not coming from the direction of the front hall, but out of a door behind the old clock. Completely floored by what he saw, Matt couldn’t bring himself to move as Terry flopped over the back of the sofa and proceeded to pass out.

He was still in the same place when the clock slid aside again a few minutes later, letting Mr. Wayne and Ace come out of the passageway. While the old man grumbled something under his breath and went to grab a blanket that had been folded up on the opposite sofa the last couple days, the dog took one sniff and trotted over to where Matt hid. A moment later, the boy stiffened as Mr. Wayne’s sharp eyes spotted him amongst the shadows.

The old man sighed. “You saw, didn’t you?”

Matt scrambled to his feet as he answered. “Yes, sir. What, um, what exactly did I see?” Mr. Wayne took a moment to glare at Terry’s snoring form.

“I’ll admit, I’m honestly surprised he hasn’t told you already. But then, your brother probably thought I didn’t want him to.” He gestured for Matt to come along as he went back to the clock. “I hope it goes without saying, you can’t tell anyone what you’re about to see.”

Half a minute later, Matt was standing in the Batcave.

THE. BATCAVE.

“Shway...” His whisper echoed through the massive cavern, even as the excited boy took in all the old weapons, the computer, the suits in glass cases... Including a certain suit he’d become very familiar with over the last couple of years. “Soo... Can I look around? As long as I don’t touch anything?”

Mr. Wayne arched an eyebrow at him. “Hn. It would seem you are smarter than the other one.” Matt just grinned, starting to wander about so that he could see what else was hidden by the shadows.

“What was it like, being scary enough that bad and good guys were afraid of you?” The kid couldn’t help but ask after a little while. “I mean, I’ve read books about Superman and other old heroes, but they always seemed kind of dorky. But Batman, I mean you, well-” Seeing the look Mr. Wayne was giving him, Matt snapped his mouth shut and blushed.

Then the old man smirked.

“Mostly, it was entertaining...”

-BB-

When Terry woke up, it was to the usual sunlight streaming into his eyes, but a lack of the small form that had been curled up with him the past two mornings. Wondering if Matt had finally managed to go a night sleeping by himself, the teen stood and stretched, shuffling towards the kitchen. It wasn’t until he reached the open doorway itself, though, that the half-asleep teen noticed the conversing voices and smell of fresh breakfast food.

Matt and the Old Man were sitting across from each other at the small table, with the kid hanging on Wayne’s every word as he described a fight between himself, Robin, and the hired henchmen of some Thorne guy.

...Wait a sec.

“Uh, what’s going on here?” Terry asked suspiciously. He blinked when Matt leapt up from the chair and dashed over to hug his around the waste. “Twip?”

“Ter! You’ve got to tell me how you beat the Royal Flush gang, ‘cause Mr. Wayne was talking early about the original group of them that the Joker put together, but then he brought up other adventures with the League, and then his first partners, and is it weird that mob bosses haven’t gotten any smarter in sixty years, because they sound just as stupid now as they were then if they think or thought they could actually take on Batman of all people...” He kept going for another minute, at which point Terry clapped a hand over the kid’s mouth and glared at the Old Man.

“You told him? I thought it wasn’t supposed to go any further than it already has!”

“He saw you come out of the clock this morning.” Bruce answered calmly, sipping at a cup of tea. By then, Matt had squirmed free of his brother’s grip and returned to his spot at the kitchen table.

“There’s microwaved waffles and syrup and fresh strawberries on the counter!” The twip told him, in far too a cheerful mood for Terry’s liking. Then again, he was still irritated over the Old Man telling his kid brother about the whole Batman thing when Terry thought they’d be keeping it hidden for as long as possible. Muttering incoherent insults and complaints under his breath, the teen grabbed some food, heading back to the table just in time to see Matt slip Ace a piece of a waffle under table.

“Don’t feed the dog, twip.” Terry ordered him. A few seconds later, Bruce made sure to catch and hold the teen’s wide gaze as he deliberately picked up an entire waffle and dropped it to the floor for a delighted Ace to gobble up.

“...Seriously?” Was all Terry had to say as Matt began to snicker. “First the dumb dog likes him better than me, and now you too?”

“He’s more polite than you are.” The Old Man said simply. Terry gave up and just began to eat his breakfast.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

“Not gonna happen, twip.”

“But Terry! You need help out there!” Striding angrily through the Manor, Terry tried to ignore the argument his little brother get throwing at him. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned from all the Old Man’s stories, it’s that Batman functions better in the field with a partner than he does alone!”

“Yeah, and that was the _old_ Bat, Matthew. This one doesn’t need any help.” Turning the hands on the clock, the teen tried to step through and close the passage entrance before Matt could get in. No such luck.

“That’s what Mister Wayne said he thought in the beginning too, but then he admitted that having Robin around made things easier.” The kid dogged his footsteps all the way down into the Cave and towards the computer, where the Old Man was already seated.

“I blame you for this.” Terry growled as they got closer. Wayne just raised an eyebrow at him. “The twip wants to be the new Robin.”

Matt clenched his jaw when the Old Man turned to stare at him. “He needs the help, even if he doesn’t want to admit it.”

“On that, we both agree.” Both McGinnis brothers gaped in shock. “But not from you. You’ve barely begun to learn how to fight, Matthew, and while I think you might be ready to don a suit of your own at some point in the future, it isn’t any time soon.”

Shoulders slumping, the boy reluctantly agreed. He then had to watch as Terry once again left the Cave as Batman, before settling in to wait for his brother’s eventual return. He’d been making himself useful lately, listening to the radio link and watching the vid feed, getting whatever medical supplies were needed ready once Terry announced he was coming home. The rest of the time, Matt would familiarize himself with the different weapons that were kept in the Cave, practice the martial arts moves Mister Wayne had begun to teach him, and read through old records about other cases the Bats of the past had solved.

Eventually, he’d be good enough to go out into the city at night with his brother. And then he’d make sure the elder McGinnis didn’t always come home with so many injuries.

-BB-

When Dana answered the front door one evening, she was expecting Terry, holding flowers and apologizing for bailing on her and the others that morning. Instead, the teen was more than a little surprised to see her boyfriend’s little brother standing before her, a computer bag slung over his shoulder.

“Uh... Hey, Matt, come on in.” The kid gratefully shuffled inside, setting the bag down and rubbing the back of his neck. “What’s up?”

“I need your help with something.” He told her, in as serious a voice as an eleven year old could muster. “It’s for Terry.”

Intrigued, and slightly worried, she led him upstairs to her bedroom, where the boy brought out what looked to be his brother’s laptop and switched it on. He then showed her several old newspaper clips off of a digital archive, all of them going back to Wayne’s days as the Batman and written about achievements of the Bat Clan.

“Oh-kaaay... What’s the deal with these?” Dana asked once they finally finished scrolling through the file (there were a lot of articles).

“Batman needs a Robin.” Matt stated bluntly. “But even if I train for a year, at the rate I’m learning to fight neither Terry or Mister Wayne will say I’m ready.”

The teen’s eyebrows shot up. “You want to help Ter fight crime? Matt, you of all people should know how dangerous that is-”

“Which is why I need to do it! You don’t see him every time he comes in a two or three in the morning - Dana, I have to be out there helping him, so I don’t loose Terry like M-Mom and Dad.” He blinked furiously, trying to hold back tears, a sight that had Dana’s heart melting.

“Okay. Okay, I’ll help, but what do you need me to do?” Swiping at his eyes, Matt pulled up another page on the laptop, this one with an address and a map.

“I need to go to Blüdhaven to see someone, but I’m not gonna be able to get there by myself, and I can’t ask Terry or Max or the Old Man.”

Peering closely at the route, Dana slowly started to nod. “Yeah, I can get you there. We’ll go this Sunday, if you tell your brother you’re spending the day at a friend’s or something. But who the heck do you need to see all the way Blüdhaven of all places?”

“A former Bird.”

-BB-

Sunday was the one day of the week Dick Grayson didn’t have any classes in his acrobatics school during summer vacation. He was still around the building, managing paperwork, checking all the equipment, just being present in the space he’d made his own in the decades since departing Gotham. He still lived in the loft above, and had renovated the entire warehouse, turning it into a place of learning, of movement.

Dick was in the process of setting up the tumbling mats for the groups of four to seven year olds he’d be teaching the next day, when he caught a knock at the front entrance. Assuming it was someone who wanted to see the facility before signing up for classes, the man went ahead and answered. Sure enough, there was a teenage girl and a smaller boy, possibly her little brother, waiting outside.

“May I help you?” Dick asked, his remaining eye flickering over them. There was something familiar about the two...

“You’re Richard Grayson, right?” The kid asked nervously.

“Yes, that’s me. And you are?”

“Matt McGinnis. You’ve met my brother Terry a few times, I think.” And it clicked.

“Look, kid, if this about a Bat thing, you’d be better off talking to Barbara Gordon, because I don’t-”

“We want to learn from you.” The girl blurted out, causing both Dick and Matt to stare at her in shock. “We want to learn to fight, and even if Terry or the Old Man or even Commissioner Gordon wanted to, they wouldn’t have the time. So, will you help us or not?” She crossed her arms belligerently, and Dick couldn’t hold back the snort of amusement, eerily reminded of adopting a similar pose the first time he argued with Bruce about helping in the field.

“Alright. You want to learn? Get in here and let’s see what I’m working with...”


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

“You need to tuck your feet in too, Tan.” Grayson barked at her. “That’s what’s throwing your flip off and preventing you from sticking the landing.”

“Got it,” she called, and upon trying again with the shifted position, succeeded. The man nodded his approval, before once again adjusting Matt’s stance.

“Now, for a full size person, I’d be showing ‘em one set of moves, but a kid’s got to work differently.” He explained. “You’ve got a shorter range of motion to work with, hence why speed’s your greatest ally in a fight. So, when going up against someone three times your size, seek out the weak points...”

That first Sunday, they spent almost six hours at Grayson’s acrobatics school, focusing on evasive movements and the basics for offensive attacks. The pair also worked out a schedule for when they could return for further lessons, one that hopefully wouldn’t alert Terry or Bruce to what they were doing.

“You will have to tell them about this sooner or later.” Grayson pointed out as the two prepared to leave for the day. “I mean, I thought the whole point of this was so that you could go out with the kid’s brother and make his night job easier.”

“And we will,” Matt hastily said. “Just as soon as we can show them that we’re making real progress.”

“Hmph.” The man started to say more, but was interrupted by the phone in his office ringing. “Alright, go on then, I’ll see you two on Wednesday. And don’t be late!” As they headed out the door, Dana heard him answer his phone, fussing at someone named Wally for calling on his one day off.

“Well, he was... Different.” The teen remarked as she and Matt headed towards where they’d parked.

“He was awesome!” Her diminutive companion exclaimed. “I didn’t think he was gonna agree so easy, but then he did and in one training session I’ve learned more than in a week of lessons from the Old Man! Hey, Dana, did you mean it when you said you wanted to learn how to fight to help Terry too?”

“Of course I did. You’re not the only one who wants to keep from losing him to this job, kiddo. Besides, if I start wearing a superhero suit too, then whenever Ter has to cancel a date on me because of the Bat thing, we’ll both be going to deal with it.” She grinned as Matt started to snicker.

For the next four weeks, they returned to Blüdhaven as much as possible for training. In that same time, Terry not only patrolled Gotham nearly every night, but also went on no less than five Justice League missions. Mostly he came back from those with only a few new bruises, but after getting a broken arm from fighting Gordanians in space, Matt pitched a fit. By the time he finished ranting about idiot metahumans, stupid aliens and Terry not not having eyes in the back of his head, the elder McGinnis was staring at him in shock while the Old Man smirked in the background.

It was that night, in between the respective boys heading to bed, that Wayne spoke up to Matt about whether he still wanted to become Robin.

“Frak yeah, I do.”

“Language.” Bruce leveled a small glare at him, before the man’s expression softened. “Then in that case, I’ll begin preparations for putting a suit together.”

“Um, could you make one for Dana too?” At the raised eyebrow, he hurried to explain. “I’ve been training with her the last few weeks, and she’s a pretty good fighter, and wants to make sure Terry keeps coming home as much as I do.”

“Hmph. Ask her to come by one day and we’ll just what you mean by ‘pretty good’.”

“Yes sir!”

-BB-

Yawning and scratching absently at the cast on his arm, Terry headed to the front door when he heard the bell. As far as the Old Man had told him, they weren’t expecting any visitors that afternoon...

He opened the door to reveal a familiar face. “Dana! What are you doing here?” His girlfriend smiled, stretching up to kiss him on the cheek before slipping inside.

“Matt asked me to come by actually.” Her answer had Terry raising an eyebrow.

“The twip? You aren’t leaving me for my baby brother, are you?” They shared a laugh at that, both easily imagining the look on the kid’s face if he’d been present to hear that question.

“Miss Tan.” A gravelly voice interrupted from the staircase. Turning to see Mister Wayne approaching them, Dana nodded her head politely.

“Sir. Matt said you’d like to see what we’ve been working on?”

“Indeed. Follow me.” The two of them headed towards the Cave’s entrance, a confused Terry following along behind. He didn’t know what his girlfriend and little brother had been up to, although if the Old Man already knew what was going on, it couldn’t be good.

Could it?

Not long afterward, Terry was staring in shock as Matt and Dana proceeded to put the beat down on the training dummies almost as fast as he was able to. Apparently the two of them had been _really_ intensive with their combat training lately, making almost as much progress with their skills as he’d gained over the two years of being Batman.

When the pair finished with the exercises the Old Man made them run through, he watched them with a keen eye.

“Grayson’s been teaching you, hasn’t he?”

Dana blinked as Matt gaped. “How’d you know?”

“The way you two have been moving is very similar to his style, which I saw enough of over two decades to be able to recognize even now.” His eyes narrowed. “How long?”

“Almost five weeks.” Dana answered. Again, Terry’s eyebrows shot up, this time wondering how the hell he hadn’t noticed at all what they’d been doing. The Old Man just made his _hmph_ noise again, striding back across the Cave floor to his usual spot at the computer as the younger folk followed.

“If you two are committed to this, and I mean _truly_ committed,” he glared. “Then I’ll start putting your uniforms together, and you can begin a period of probationary patrols once they’re ready.”

“Whoa, wait, you’re actually going to let them start being superheroes? Just like that?” Terry asked, startled by how fast it was all moving.

“I let you, didn’t I?” Wayne glowered at him, and for once it was enough to make the elder McGinnis shut up.

“Awesome!” Matt cheered.

“We’ll try not to disappoint you, sir.” Dana said, a bit more subdued even if she was smiling brightly.

“We need to make one thing very clear right now, though.” The Old Man growled, poking his cane first into Dana’s gut, and then Matt’s chest. “There are a number of things you’ll need to learn, the first of them being our main ten rules of conduct...”


End file.
